1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floppy disc drive apparatus that drives a floppy disc.
2. Description of Related Art
A floppy disc drive apparatus for driving a 3.5 inch floppy disc requires a spindle motor that rotatably drives the floppy disc, a magnetic head that reproduces and records data on the floppy disc, a drive mechanism having an actuator that scans the magnetic head in a radial direction of the floppy disc, a mechanism controller that controls the drive mechanism to thereby reproduce and record specified data on the floppy disc, and a floppy disc controller that transfers and receives data to and from the mechanism controller.
Typically, as shown in FIG. 5, a floppy disc controller 30 is installed inside a main control apparatus such as a computer 5 that controls an independent floppy disc drive apparatus 1A. A drive mechanism 10 that drives a floppy disc 2 and a floppy disc mechanism controller 20 (hereafter referred to as xe2x80x9cmechanism controller) that controls the drive mechanism 10 are mounted on the floppy disc drive apparatus 1A. Therefore, data that is to be recorded on or read from the floppy disc 2 by the magnetic head is transferred between the mechanism controller 20 that is installed in the floppy disc drive apparatus 1A and the floppy disc controller 30 that is installed in the computer 5 through a general purpose interface 40A at a transfer rate of 500 kbit/s. The computer 5 and the floppy disc drive apparatus 1A are also connected by the general purpose interface 40A with 26 pins or 34 pins to transfer various signals for controlling the mechanism controller 20, in addition to data that is to be recorded on or reproduced from the floppy disc 2.
In recent years, universal serial buses (USBs) are widely used in computer apparatuses. Accordingly, floppy disc drive apparatuses that are connected to controller apparatuses through USBs are more widely used. A typical USB type floppy disc drive apparatus includes a drive mechanism, a mechanism controller and a floppy disc controller that are mounted inside the floppy disc drive apparatus. The USB type floppy disc drive apparatus can transfer and receive data to and from an external apparatus, a computer, through a USB interface at a relatively high data transfer rate.
Under the circumstances, in many occasions, a conventional general-use type floppy disc drive apparatus 1A that is connectable to bus types other than USBs is modified in order to make the conventional general-use type floppy disc drive apparatus 1A connectable to USBs. For example, a floppy disc controller 30 and a USB interface 40 are added in the floppy disc drive apparatus 1A to form a USB connectable floppy disc drive apparatus 1B, as shown in FIG. 6. The floppy disc drive apparatus 1B is constructed in a manner that floppy discs are interchangeable between the floppy disc drive apparatus 1B and the conventional general-use type floppy disc drive apparatus 1A. In other words, while the USB connectable floppy disc drive apparatus 1B shown in FIG. 6 is connectable to a USB, data is transferred between the mechanism controller 20 and the floppy disc controller 30 at a data transfer rate of 500 kbit/s in order to maintain the interchangeability. As a result, the conventional USB connectable floppy disc drive apparatus 1B shown in FIG. 6 transfers and receives data to and from an external apparatus, such as, a computer apparatus through a USB interface 40 at a data transfer rate of 500 kbit/s.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a floppy disc drive apparatus that is connectable to a USB and maintains the interchangeability of floppy discs with a conventional floppy disc drive apparatus, and that can improve the data transfer rate to and from an external apparatus.
To achieve the object described above, a floppy disc drive apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention includes a spindle motor that rotatably drives a floppy disc at a rotational speed of about 600 rpm or higher, more preferably, at a rotational speed of 600 rpm or higher. The floppy disc drive apparatus also includes a magnetic head, a drive mechanism and a mechanism controller. The magnetic head reads and records data on the floppy disc. The drive mechanism having an actuator scans the magnetic head in a radial direction of the floppy disc. The mechanism controller controls the drive mechanism to thereby reproduce and record specified data on the floppy disc. In one feature of the embodiment, the floppy disc drive apparatus includes a floppy disc controller that transfers and receives data to and from the mechanism controller at a transfer rate of 1 Mbit/s or greater, and a universal serial bus interface that allows the floppy disc controller to transfer and receive data to and from an external apparatus at a transfer rate of about 1 Mbit/s or greater, and more preferably at a transfer rate of 1 Mbit/s or greater.
In the floppy disc drive apparatus in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, the floppy disc controller is mounted on the floppy disc drive apparatus, not on an external control apparatus such as an independent computer. Also, in a floppy disc drive apparatus connectable to a USB in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a mechanism controller rotates a spindle motor (i.e., a floppy disc) at a rotational speed of 600 rpm or higher, and data is transferred between the mechanism controller and the floppy disc controller at a data transfer rate of 1 Mbit/s.
Accordingly, in the USB connectable floppy disc drive apparatus in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, a data transfer rate within the floppy disc drive apparatus is set at 1 Mbit/s or greater. As a result, the data transfer rate is increased two times or greater compared to the general-use type conventional floppy disc drive apparatus or the conventional USB connectable floppy disc drive apparatus, and the data transfer rate between the floppy disc drive apparatus and the computer is increased two times or greater. Accordingly, the floppy disc drive apparatus can record and reproduce data on a floppy disc at a rate twice or more higher than that of the conventional floppy disc drive apparatus. Moreover, while the data recording speed and the data reproducing speed are substantially increased compared to the general-use type conventional floppy disc drive apparatus or the conventional USB connectable floppy disc drive apparatus, the rotational speed of the motor is also proportionally increased. As a result, the floppy disc drive apparatus of the present invention can record and read data on floppy discs with the same line density as the conventional floppy disc drive apparatus does. As a result, the floppy disc drive apparatus in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention maintains the interchangeability of floppy discs with the conventional general-use type floppy disc drive apparatus or the conventional USB connectable floppy disc drive apparatus.
In accordance with one feature of the embodiment of the present invention, the spindle motor may preferably be a peripheral-surfaces-opposing type motor that includes a cylindrical drive magnet and a stator core in which an internal peripheral surface of the drive magnet is disposed opposite in a radial direction to an external peripheral surface of the stator core. By this structure, the motor can achieve a higher and yet stable rotation compared to a spindle motor in which a drive magnet and a stator core are disposed opposite to each other in a thrust direction.